Abstract Expressionism - Clyfford Still Museum (2024)

Clyfford Still’s art is usually considered within the context of Abstract Expressionism, a movement of artists who independently developed approaches to abstraction around the time of World War II. These artists mostly avoided combat (by virtue of their age) but were keenly aware of the details of WWII through newsreels, newspapers, radio, and popular magazines. After WWII, these same news outlets began to cover the emergence of an American avant-garde art born from the horrors of the Great Depression, world wars, and collective need for a spiritual and emotional reformation.

Although Abstract Expressionist artists’ paintings look very different, their work tends to share several key characteristics.